Articles

YNW Melly’s Trials Highlight Florida’s Unconstitutional Death Penalty Law

March 4, 2025 Investigations

If convicted in a double homicide, Melly could be sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury — a practice with deep roots in Jim Crow.

By Sean Campbell

Bail Is A Longstanding Problem in Baltimore. Is Maryland Searching For A Solution?

February 3, 2025 Investigations

Maryland's pre-trial population has increased since bail reform was enacted in 2017. But Illinois has a reform model that might work for the state.

By Madeleine O'Neill

Who Is Voting For Reform Prosecutors?

January 9, 2025 Reports

A Split Ticket/Garrison Project data analysis of recent reform prosecutor elections.

By Armin Thomas

Democratic Pundits Have A Pernicious Crime Problem

December 23, 2024 Commentary

They say fact-checking perceptions of crime is a fool's errand because they're rooted in vibes. But they ignore that the vibes are coming from somewhere: media.

By John Pfaff

California Lets Defendants Challenge Racism In Court. Few Have Succeeded.

November 25, 2024 Investigations

A Garrison Project and CalMatters analysis of the Racial Justice Act found about a dozen successful cases in which judges took action on racial bias in the legal process.

By Sean Kevin Campbell

Baltimore Residents Held In Jail At Higher Rates Than Before Bail Reform

November 8, 2024 Investigations

A 2017 state bail reform effort led to a paradox: use of cash bail has plummeted, but most initial appearances end in a bail denial.

By Madeleine O'Neill

North Carolina Parole System Accused Of Blocking Release For People Who Committed Crimes As Children

September 25, 2024 Investigations

A lawsuit from a prisoner who been denied release more than 20 times claims that the state holds parole "perpetually out of realistic reach."

By Jacob Biba

Reports and Body-cam Video Raise Familiar Concerns About Baltimore Police Plainclothes Unit

September 20, 2024 Investigations

In May, a detective pointed his service weapon to the temple of a prone and restrained man.

By Brandon Soderberg

The COVID-19 Homicide Spike Has Vanished

August 28, 2024 Commentary

There's a story for politicians to tell of not just crime declines, but non-police interventions that made cities safer.

By John Pfaff

Claim of racial bias in Rowan County death penalty case cites U.S. Supreme Court decision

August 1, 2024 interviews

This story was produced in partnership with WFAE in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jacob Biba, a reporter based in Asheville,...

By Jacob Biba

Taking a hard look at Baltimore’s Gun Violence Reduction Strategy

July 26, 2024 Investigations

An analysis of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott's key anti-violence strategy.

By Brandon Soderberg

Were Black jurors in North Carolina struck because of their race?

July 8, 2024 Investigations

The question looms over capital cases in the state.

By Jacob Biba

The Biggest Myth About the 1994 Crime Bill Still Haunts Joe Biden. It Shouldn’t.

June 22, 2024 Commentary

The law is routinely blamed for a very real problem it had nothing to do with.

By John Pfaff

Feds Closed a Prison Notorious for Abuse. Things Only Got Worse

June 8, 2024 Investigations

Dozens of women were assaulted at the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin, California, before it was shut down. Now, prisoners are facing “mass retaliation and bullying”

By Lisa Fernandez

New Laws Are Turning Police Into ‘Super Citizens’

May 10, 2024 Commentary

A series of legislative and judicial efforts have removed police oversight from oversight boards and communities.

By John Pfaff

GOP Senate Candidate’s Error-Laden Memoir Villainized Baltimore, Freddie Gray

April 19, 2024 Latest

Larry Hogan, the former Maryland Republican governor, has a moderate reputation — but spent his career wrongfully demonizing Baltimore

By Baynard Woods

In historic North Carolina hearing, Joe Freeman Britt’s troubled past as prosecutor looms

March 29, 2024 Latest

The proceedings are before a Johnston County Superior judge, but former Roberson and Scotland County prosecutor Britt's legacy hangs over them.

By Jacob Biba

Baltimore’s Spy Plane Was Ruled Unconstitutional in 2021. So Why Did One Murder Case Go to Trial Years Later?

March 21, 2024 Investigations

Terrence Carter spent three years in jail and on house arrest in a case in which police and prosecutors relied on the surveillance plane.

By Brandon Soderberg

A Potent Weapon For State Legislatures To Undermine Reform Prosecutors

February 24, 2024 Commentary

Preemption is being used by red and blue states alike to roll back the power of reform prosecutors.

By John Pfaff

Kim Ogg: DA Under Fire

February 23, 2024 Features

Harris County had big plans to reform its criminal justice system. What went wrong?

By Jolie McCullough

An ‘Execute-Them-At-Any-Cost Mentality’: The Supreme Court’s New, Bloodthirsty Era

January 22, 2024 Features

The death penalty survived decades of decline. Now it’s back, thanks to capital punishment-prone prosecutors and a compliant Supreme Court.

By Lara Bazelon

How Phase III Came To Be

January 3, 2024 Features

Though they once applauded the jail’s federal reforms, community groups and political leaders in New Orleans oppose a key mandate: the construction of a $109 million mental health jail.

By Nick Chrastil

Here We Go Again

December 25, 2023 Investigations

The short history and long tail of “zero tolerance” policing in Baltimore.

By Brandon Soderberg and Andrew Friedman

Baltimore Police Unit Under Fire for Deadly Shootings, Questionable Stops

November 15, 2023 Investigations

District Action Team officers fatally shot someone again on Tuesday. But concerns about the unit have been rising for months.

By Brandon Soderberg

Reality Policing TV Is Back And More Pervasive Than Ever

November 14, 2023 Latest

After George Floyd's murder, reality policing shows were cancelled, and network execs promised they'd never return. But three years later, they're back—and thriving.

By Sean Campbell

Does The Allegheny County DA’s Criminal Justice Strategy Unfairly Punish Black people?

November 3, 2023 Investigations

An analysis of the county's criminal court cases shows that Black people have been prosecuted by the DA’s office at 5.8 times the rate of white people, and charged with felonies more frequently.

By Sean Campbell

In Louisiana, Police Reform Led Directly To A “Torture Warehouse.”

October 13, 2023 Latest

This story was produced in partnership with Slate. A new lawsuit filed in federal court last month alleges that the Baton...

By Brandon Soderberg

Former Death Row Prisoner Files Lawsuit Against Moonlighting Prosecutor

September 20, 2023 Latest

Clinton Young is suing a prosecutor who simultaneously worked for judges presiding over his cases.

By Roxanna Asgarian

Florida Has Found A New Way To Thwart Reform Prosecutors

September 19, 2023 Commentary

A plan in Florida to review its judicial circuits will disenfranchise Black voters, the most reliable political base for reform prosecutors.

By John Pfaff

Texas Takes Attacks on Austin to New Level With “Death Star” Law

August 23, 2023 Commentary

This story was produced in partnership with Slate. On Sept. 1, a bill with the pithy title “An Act Relating...

By John Pfaff

Aim Lower

July 6, 2023 Commentary

Liberals have lost the Supreme Court for a generation. Their only hope is to seize state courts and launch a counterrevolution.

By James Forman and Lara Bazelon

Data Undercuts Key Law Enforcement Claim About San Francisco’s Fentanyl Trafficking Crackdown

May 26, 2023 Latest

San Francisco’s top prosecutor says massive resources are needed to rebut human trafficking defenses, but it’s hard to find many instances where that has happened.

By Zachary Siegel

After The Gun Trace Task Force Scandal, BPD Established New Plainclothes Units. Are They More Of The Same?

May 4, 2023 Investigations

"We establish our own probable cause," a District Action Team officer said in a piece of video footage captured after a 2022 arrest.

By Brandon Soderberg

This Cop Unleashed A Reign Of Terror, Say The Wrongfully Accused

April 13, 2023 Features

For years, people in Raleigh were arrested for heroin possession—without having the drug. Now, they’re demanding answers

By Sean Campbell

What If The Worst Crime Imaginable Never Happened

March 23, 2023 Investigations

Jimmie Duncan is on death row in Louisiana based on fraudulent science—but that might not matter if the state’s governorship flips this fall.

By Lara Bazelon

A Jail In Crisis

March 16, 2023 Features

Deaths, Use of Solitary Soar At The Allegheny County Jail Even As Its Population Has Dropped From Pre-Pandemic Highs.

By Sean Campbell

Justice Denied

March 10, 2023 Features

Last year, Gerald Thomas was sent to the Allegheny County Jail after charges against him were dropped, and died inside 17 days later. The judge who berated him is now facing a federal lawsuit.

By Sean Campbell

A Cop Sexually Assaulted Their Son. Then Child Protective Services Retaliated.

February 14, 2023 Features

How a family in Missouri almost lost their kid, and couldn't fight back thanks to qualified immunity laws.

By Lisa Riordan-Seville

Why Are So Few Being Released?

February 1, 2023 Features

They were sentenced to long prison terms for crimes they committed in their teens. But North Carolina opened a potential door to get them out.

By Jacob Biba

Celeb Prosecutor’s Own Kidnapping Is Now A True Crime Fiasco

January 30, 2023 Features

She survived a brutal kidnapping and attempted rape—and wrote a book about it. But did it happen the way she says?

By Brandon Soderberg

The Fashionable Police Strategy That Is Just Mass Incarceration By Another Name

November 2, 2022 Commentary

This story was published in partnership with Slate. Police departments, politicians, academics, and policymakers are again embracing focused deterrence, a...

By Philip V. McHarris

Biden’s Focus on Marijuana Is Part of the Problem

October 21, 2022 Commentary

This story was published in partnership with Slate. Earlier this month, President Joe Biden released a three-prong plan to fulfill a...

By John Pfaff

The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s Prophet of Urban Doom

October 20, 2022 Features

Like his pals Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, Sacks is using his wealth and online clout to unite conservatives and former leftists in a reactionary movement against liberalism.

By Jacob Silverman

The NYPD Brutalized Protesters in 2020. Will It Face a Reckoning?

October 8, 2022 Features

This story was produced in partnership with New York Magazine. On June 4, 2020, hundreds of protesters marched through the Mott...

By Ali Winston

Police Are Bragging About Big Fentanyl Busts, Repeating the Drug War’s Dark History

September 20, 2022 Latest

Politicians and lawmakers are equating large-scale fentanyl seizures with progress in combating the drug’s epidemic, forgetting the lessons from the age of crack.

By Zachary Siegel

Why Even Progressive Prosecutors Won’t Be Able to Keep Women Who Have Abortions Out of Jail

July 13, 2022 Commentary

This article was published in partnership with Slate. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v....

By John Pfaff

How States Will Target Pregnant People Now that Roe Has Fallen

June 24, 2022 Latest

After the Dobbs decision, every pregnancy is a potential crime scene.

By Roxanna Asgarian

What the San Francisco DA Recall Really Tells Us. And What it Doesn’t.

June 9, 2022 Commentary

The city's demographics mattered, as did Chesa Boudin's outsider status. But the politics of punishment are still too complicated to draw a neat conclusion.

By John Pfaff

School Police Don’t Stop Shootings. So What Are They For?

June 7, 2022 Latest

This story was published in partnership with Slate. Each day following the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which left...

By Roxanna Asgarian

‘We don’t know how many women are out there like that’

May 16, 2022 Features

Anna Borkowski accused three men of rape. Why did prosecutors stop her?

By Roxanna Asgarian

Hochul’s Regressive Bail Rollbacks Untethered From Evidence

April 11, 2022 Commentary

The bail reform debate turns on data from data from New York State’s Office of Court Administration. But that data cannot answer the question of whether reform works.

By John Pfaff

How Texas Became the Most Virulently Anti-Trans State in America

April 5, 2022 Features

Governor Greg Abbott’s notorious order to investigate gender-affirming care as child abuse was years in the making.

By Roxanna Asgarian

The Wrong Prosecutors Are Getting Recalled

March 25, 2022 Commentary

Some prosecutors confront recalls over their policies, while others facing misconduct allegations could be re-elected.

By Lara Bazelon

The Real Reason Democrats Can’t Agree On How To Address Rising Crime

March 8, 2022 Commentary

The criminal legal reform divide is between moderate mayors and progressive prosecutors.

By John Pfaff

The Biggest Threat to Trans Kids in Texas is Child Protective Services

March 2, 2022 Investigations

Texas Is targeting trans kids. But weaponizing Child Protective Services against them could be a threat everywhere.

By Roxanna Asgarian

Prescription Opioids Aren’t Driving the Overdose Crisis. Illicitly Manufactured Synthetic Opioids Are.

February 15, 2022 Commentary

Myths about the role of prescription opioids have fueled decades of misguided policies. A new report from The Stanford-Lancet Commission reinforces those falsehoods.

By Alex Gertner

What an Analysis of 2,000 Shootings Tells Us About How to End Gun Violence

February 14, 2022 Commentary

This story was published in partnership with Slate. New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” received...

By John Pfaff

Eric Adams’ “Blueprint To End Gun Violence” Is a Trojan Horse

January 28, 2022 Commentary

The New York Mayor’s blueprint isn’t really an anti-violence plan—it's an assault on modest discovery, bail and juvenile justice reforms.

By MK Kaishian

The Manhattan DA Started a Panic with Supposedly Soft-on-Crime Policies. His Critics Are Wrong.

January 18, 2022 Commentary

Like other progressive prosecutors, Alvin Bragg is trying to acknowledge that prison time doesn’t fight crime.

By John Pfaff

Major Media Outlets Can’t Stop Describing Police Violence As ‘Officer Involved’ Incidents

January 13, 2022 Reports

Following the murder of George Floyd, The Associated Press issued guidance that reporters should not describe instances where police shot someone with neutral language. It didn't work.

By Brandon Soderberg and Andy Friedman

David Simon Made Baltimore Detectives Famous. Now Their Cases Are Falling Apart.

January 12, 2022 Features

Has reality caught up to the “Murder Police”?

By Lara Bazelon

She Was Open To Her Child Being Trans. Then The State Separated Them.

December 15, 2021 Features

Is the case of Katee Churchill just the beginning?

By Roxanna Asgarian

Give People Safe Drugs

November 24, 2021 Commentary

Over 100,000 overdose deaths happened last year, driven by volatile and lethal fentanyl. The safe supply movement may have an answer for the crisis.

By Zachary Siegel

North Carolina Appeals Courts Have Never Found That Prosecutors Discriminated Against Black Jurors. Two Cases Could Change That.

November 8, 2021 Features

The state’s appellate courts could give new trials to two Black men who claim prosecutors discriminated against potential jurors.

By Jacob Biba

Human Trafficking Sting Nets No Human Trafficking Charges

October 29, 2021 Investigations

A Florida sheriff boasted of 125 arrests as part of a massive anti-human trafficking operation. But none of the charges were for human trafficking—nearly all were for misdemeanor solicitation.

By Roxanna Asgarian

Crime Rates Rise And Fall. The Police Mostly Have Nothing To Do With It.

October 26, 2021 Commentary

Policing expansions don't do much to reduce crime. Instead, they manage people and communities to serve the interests of the powerful.

By Aya Gruber

Why Our Fixation On The Murder Rate Is Killing Us

October 8, 2021 Commentary

Deaths by suicide, drug overdose, and car accidents are all strongly influenced by our reliance on—and unwillingness to move away from—policing.

By John Pfaff

White Riot

October 4, 2021 Features

In 1992, thousands of furious, drunken cops descended on City Hall — and changed New York history.

By Laura Nahmias